# Any sausage makers out there?



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

No jokes please .

A friend and I like to make our own sausage and are looking for some good recipes. I have found some online, but want to know if any gorillas have any of their own.

We use wild game mostly (moose) and pork. Open to other suggestions.


----------



## rx2010 (Jan 4, 2007)

I am not a sausage maker, however, if anyone has a good Deer, Elk, (moose maybe since you mentioned it), buffalo, etc. I would be interested to try some out if you do mail orders


----------



## Demented (Nov 7, 2006)

I make Italian sausage.

For every pound of ground meat add 1 /4 lb. of Bacon or fatback that's been cubed, this adds flavor and moisture to the sausage. I don't measure herbs or spice so these are approximations.

Per pound of course ground meat;

3/4 t. fennel seed
3/4 t. fresh ground black pepper
1 t. kosher salt
1/8 c. wine or stock

Additions per pound of ground meat;

1/2 t. chopped broad leaf parsley (no stems)
1 T. chopped fresh basil
1/4 – 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flake
1/8 t. oregano
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. sugar
1/4 t. caraway seed

Scallion, shallot, sweet or red onion are always good too.

My advice would be to fry a bit up after it's blended and taste it, then adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Best of luck,

Anthony


----------



## okierock (Feb 24, 2006)

Demented said:


> I make Italian sausage.
> 
> For every pound of ground meat add 1 /4 lb. of Bacon or fatback that's been cubed, this adds flavor and moisture to the sausage. I don't measure herbs or spice so these are approximations.
> 
> ...


Frying it up to try before you spend time putting it in casings is sage advice. Season to taste and try it, if you like it then it will likely make good sausage.


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Sausuge is one of my vices  I also order a lot of sausage and Sopressata from NY's BrooklynPorkStore

:tu for their quality

I will glady trade good cigars for anyone who wants to try and ship their home-made sausage


----------



## DMK (Jun 16, 2008)

kayaker said:


> No jokes please .
> 
> A friend and I like to make our own sausage and are looking for some good recipes. I have found some online, but want to know if any gorillas have any of their own.
> 
> We use wild game mostly (moose) and pork. Open to other suggestions.


I've made my own in the past, usually straight pork, but if you can get your hands on some deer :dr:dr, mixed 50/50 with pork....:dr:dr:dr
I usually season to taste with just salt and pepper, and do fry up a bit to try before you stuff.
If I'm making straight pork I usually get a nice big shoulder and about half again of pork belly. I use the wife's Kitchen-Aid grinder and sausage set up.


----------



## DonnieW (Jul 2, 2008)

kayaker said:


> No jokes please .


Newfie sausages... Are you kidding me? You guys run out of lobster or something? :r


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

DonnieW said:


> Newfie sausages... Are you kidding me? You guys run out of lobster or something? :r


mmmmm....lobster.... sigh...the season is closed.

Here's a pic of the grinding system we made.


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

Demented said:


> I make Italian sausage.


Thanks Anthony. I'll give this a try.:tu


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

What do you guys do to stuff your sausages (this thread could go downhill quick)? I did a very good venison sausage patty last year, but stuffing sausage is a PITA. I have a hand grinder that works great and a cheapo elec grinder/stuffer that can barely grind. 

What's the secret?


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

AAlmeter said:


> What do you guys do to stuff your sausages (this thread could go downhill quick)? I did a very good venison sausage patty last year, but stuffing sausage is a PITA. I have a hand grinder that works great and a cheapo elec grinder/stuffer that can barely grind.
> 
> What's the secret?


We use a levered stuffer that we got from Princess Auto. Not great, but works better than the usual electric ones.

If you look closer at the photo above, the grinder was a hand one that could also be hooked up to a motor. It works fast and is also pretty quiet. Chews through the meat very well.


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

kayaker said:


> We use a levered stuffer that we got from Princess Auto. Not great, but works better than the usual electric ones.
> 
> If you look closer at the photo above, the grinder was a hand one that could also be hooked up to a motor. It works fast and is also pretty quiet. Chews through the meat very well.


Something along the lines of this?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20099&hasJS=true

I can grind all day with my hand powered one. It just tends to back up/gum up when I try to stuff using it.


----------



## smokeyandthebandit05 (Dec 29, 2007)

At my uncles butcher shop they make, sweet and hot italian, fresh kielbasa, country sausage which is like a breakfast sausage with just salt and pepper in it, tomato and mozzarella, bacon cheddar, garlic parsley and parmesan, broccoli rabb, German with apples and bread crumbs, um peppers and onions, roasted peppers with mozzarella and I think thats it lol oh and "combo sausage" which is after they stuff everything there is usually about a pound left in the stuffer so they mix it all together and make more. To stuff it they have a 12 qt. crank stuffer that has been in the place since 1977

---------------- Now playing: Craig Morgan - Little Bit of Life via FoxyTunes


----------



## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

Smokey,

Do they want to ship some to AZ?


----------



## smokeyandthebandit05 (Dec 29, 2007)

lol if u send me like an Omaha steak styrofoam box and those blue ice packs sure lol. We have a friend who stops by, works for a drilling company and they're sending him down to Louisiana as a mechanic for the drilling rigs and he wants us to send him our fresh kielbasa and some other varietys lol.

I added 2 more kinds to the list

---------------- Now playing: Rodney Adkins - About The South via FoxyTunes


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

AAlmeter said:


> Something along the lines of this?


That's it. If not the exact model, then a replica.

This type is supposed to be good as well.


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

smokeyandthebandit05 said:


> At my uncles butcher shop they make, sweet and hot italian, fresh kielbasa, country sausage which is like a breakfast sausage with just salt and pepper in it, tomato and mozzarella, bacon cheddar, garlic parsley and parmesan, broccoli rabb, German with apples and bread crumbs, um peppers and onions, roasted peppers with mozzarella and I think thats it lol oh and "combo sausage" which is after they stuff everything there is usually about a pound left in the stuffer so they mix it all together and make more. To stuff it they have a 12 qt. crank stuffer that has been in the place since 1977.


They all sound great. Does your uncle share recipes?


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

kayaker said:


> That's it. If not the exact model, then a replica.
> 
> This type is supposed to be good as well.


Thanks for the info!

Any chance you could drag a 10 point within shooting range this fall that I could make sausage out of?


----------



## smokeyandthebandit05 (Dec 29, 2007)

kayaker said:


> They all sound great. Does your uncle share recipes?


Um maybe, all the special variety's are just the sweet sausage with the stuff mixed in. I'll look for the secret place they keep the recipes tomorrow. The italian sausage is just salt, pepper and fennel I think

---------------- Now playing: Rodney Adkins - If You're Going Through Hell via FoxyTunes


----------



## atlacatl (Sep 18, 2006)

Wow, you guys are making me hungry. Freshly made sausages sound great. I gotta look into this, maybe I'll be making some myself. Thanks for the recipe.


----------



## Demented (Nov 7, 2006)

AAlmeter said:


> It just tends to back up/gum up when I try to stuff using it.


Chilling the meat before grinding and again before stuffing the casing will help keep the fat in a solid state. This makes for better sausage and will help keep your equipment from gumming up.

Anthony


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

AAlmeter said:


> Thanks for the info!
> 
> Any chance you could drag a 10 point within shooting range this fall that I could make sausage out of?


I don't know. It's a long swim across the gulf. If you want to come here, maybe we could arrange something.


----------



## JacksonCognac (Nov 12, 2007)

So where do you get the casings? This sounds pretty cool.


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

Demented said:


> Chilling the meat before grinding and again before stuffing the casing will help keep the fat in a solid state. This makes for better sausage and will help keep your equipment from gumming up.
> 
> Anthony


Thanks for the tip Anthony


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

kayaker said:


> I don't know. It's a long swim across the gulf. If you want to come here, maybe we could arrange something.


I'd love to head up there to hunt one of these days.


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

JacksonCognac said:


> So where do you get the casings? This sounds pretty cool.


I can get synthetic casings locally, 2 different diameters. I want to try natural casings though. There are spots online that will ship them, and I'm going to another province where I can get them as well.

Usually butcher shops or meat packing plants will have them.


----------



## smokeyandthebandit05 (Dec 29, 2007)

my dad is also a bitcher and they get their casings from hatfield. im not sure where my uncles get theirs from. you can either get them packed in salt or a water solution. either way soak them in some water first and also make surw they dont have any holes


----------



## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

I made sausage once before, been meaning to try it again, y'all have given me great motivation!

I use this to stuff: http://www.kitchenaid.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=ModelNumberLookup&productId=366 Works like a charm, surprisingly easy to clean too. Saw on TV that running a piece or two of bread through the grinder/stuffer is a good way to clean a lot of the scraps out, worked well for me.

I used natural casings, found them in one of the local grocery stores (salt packed), think it was SuperFresh. Call around, you may be surprised who's got 'em, especially if hunting is popular in your area.

If my next batch comes out good, maybe I'll put up a "Who wants to try my sausage?" thread


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

Mark C said:


> If my next batch comes out good, maybe I'll put up a "Who wants to try my sausage?" thread


That could be fun, but so far, we only make fresh sausage, nothing cured or smoked, so I would be afraid of sending anything through the mail.

That said, I would like to try curing and smoking some sausage. My dad has a smoker and cold smokes salmon and char every year.

Hmmmm.... have to make some plans.


----------



## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

kayaker said:


> That could be fun, but so far, we only make fresh sausage, nothing cured or smoked, so I would be afraid of sending anything through the mail.
> 
> That said, I would like to try curing and smoking some sausage. My dad has a smoker and cold smokes salmon and char every year.
> 
> Hmmmm.... have to make some plans.


I figure a good amount of dry ice, thick styrofoam box, and overnight shipping and it'll be good to go. After all, it works for Omaha steaks!


----------



## Phidelt076 (Oct 17, 2006)

I just got into hunting this past year. In the area of Texas we hunt (Abilene) we are just getting deer and wild hog.

I could eat venison steaks all day but I'm not a big fan of wild hog chops or loins by themselves to give you an idea of my tastes.

So far the best sausage I have had (I like it equally with venison and pork) is just a plain habenero & pepper jack cheese sausage. I really like the jalepeno and cheddar combo as well.

My boss bought the grinder/stuffer setup so we'll be experimenting some in the near future with some different blends. If we run across something good I'll make sure to post it up.


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

Here is a link to a PDF doc full of sausage recipes.

It's a good place to start. We've used a couple of these with some of our own mods. When we get at it again (late Oct.), I'll post up the recipes and some pics.


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

smokeyandthebandit05 said:


> my dad is also a bitcher


If you can't say anything nice then you shouldn't say anything at all


----------



## AAlmeter (Dec 31, 1999)

kayaker said:


> Here is a link to a PDF doc full of sausage recipes.
> 
> It's a good place to start. We've used a couple of these with some of our own mods. When we get at it again (late Oct.), I'll post up the recipes and some pics.


Wow. Great info there. Thanks


----------



## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

Charcuterie. Great book. We've been making sausage, panchetta and of course *BACON* from this book for about a year now. Tasty. Your first couple pounds of bacon or sausage will more than pay for the book.


----------



## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

kayaker said:


> I can get synthetic casings locally, 2 different diameters. I want to try natural casings though. There are spots online that will ship them, and I'm going to another province where I can get them as well.
> 
> Usually butcher shops or meat packing plants will have them.



Butcher-packer.com also a great source for pink salt and other curing essentials.


----------



## smokeyandthebandit05 (Dec 29, 2007)

AAlmeter said:


> If you can't say anything nice then you shouldn't say anything at all


LMAO I meant bUtcher


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

We finally got around to making sausage this past weekend.

Here are a few pics.

1 - Part of what we cut up and ground.

2 - Grinder in action.

3 - Our biggest recipe called for 1/2 moose, 1/2 lean ground pork. That's about 40lbs right there.

More pics to come.


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

Here's the next set of photos.

1 - adding the spices
2 - mixing it up, feels kinda gross 
3 - the test fry to make sure we like the taste.

We let the mix sit overnight, keeping it chilled, so allow the spices to mix well.


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

The final set of pics:

1 - this year we decided to try natural hog casings. Kinda gross to work with, but well worth the effort.
2 - starting to look good.
3 - final product.

I have to say, these are the best sausages we have made yet. The natural casings work really well and taste awesome when cooked.

We also tried a honey garlic moose, and another recipe just called Deer Suasage. The HG mix is tasty, but the Deer mixture is too salty. We'll work on that one. In all I think we had over 70lbs of sausage.

We vacuum packed it all and will have great sausage for the winter.


----------



## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

http://www.arthuravenue.com/index.jsp

This is a favorite stop for me in the Bronx. This picture is not from the vendor in the link, but from another shop on that street.


----------



## Haon123 (Oct 25, 2008)

I just made ~10 lb of sausage this weekend from pork (butt cut) + some extra fat from the butcher.

The grinder that I bought was from Amazon, a cheapie with bad reviews: Villaware #8 grinder ($30 delivered). It works great, I cleaned it throughly before use twice, and ground some throw away meat at first to make sure the parts were totally clean.

(http://www.amazon.com/Villaware-V26...4?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1227033450&sr=8-4)

Once through the grinder on coarse grind, once through on fine grind. Made some mild-medium Italian sausage with salt, pepper, red chili flake, sage, fresh garlic, fennel seed. It's fun to squish it through your fingers to mix it.

We used the grinder as the stuffer as well. It came with a stuffing attachment, we used the coarse grinder for stuffing. Natural pig casings, and they taste awesome with the sausage.

I was a little sore, but I did all the grinding and most of the cranking for stuffing the little buggers. Slept well that night, that's for sure!


----------



## Smokin Gator (Aug 17, 2008)

I make quite a bit of sausage. There are probably 5 or 6 people around who I make venison sausage for. I use about 25% pork fat with the venison. Most of it I smoke using hickory and cherry wood.

I used to make my own seasonings but have been using the Legg's sausage seasoning for the past 6-7 years.

Here is a link for one place to buy it online, but it is widely available. My favorite is the "Hot Sausage" blend.

http://www.columbiaspice.com/lesase.html


----------



## kayaker (Aug 7, 2008)

Haon123 said:


> The grinder that I bought was from Amazon, a cheapie with bad reviews: Villaware #8 grinder ($30 delivered). It works great, I cleaned it throughly before use twice, and ground some throw away meat at first to make sure the parts were totally clean.


It looks similar to our grinder except that ours came with the wheel and handle. The first year we used it we hand cranked it all, but for the next year we made the contraption in the pics. Works well when there's a lot of meat to grind.

We need to replace our stuffer now. The one we have does about 3lbs a shot and is a bit of a nuisance to use. We have our eyes on something larger, but will have to see how much it will cost.


----------

